Business

My hypothesis is that brand name is just one of the factors which attract the customer to buy products. But it is not the key factor for getting a company turn into a leadership position. My focus here is on the mobile phone companies. My proposition hence is that product differentiation and innovation serves as a competitive advantage than a product name. However, I suggest that similarly, in the mobile phone market, product differentiation is the major driver that attributes to the brand success.

Thus, what is the basis for the market positioning of any company. As it is the positioning which actually defines the perception a brand is able to create in the mind of the consumer. Brands that have an apparent and distinct positioning in the market are those that are perceived to be strong. And they are the one which not only give a hard time to the competitors. But also are able to become market leaders by reaping substantial profits. This position however, comes only if company is smartly using various factors of positioning including brand name and product differentiation to its advantage.

Introduction
Any company does its market positioning on basis of two factors companies innovate and differentiate themselves by devising products with some idiosyncratic features. (David 1996) And then the company makes efforts to communicate these differences made in reality into the mind of the consumer. And after the consumer to whom, this product or service has been targeted is able to believe that the product or service the company is providing them is actually superior because of this additional feature, then the process of positioning has been completed.

But this cannot be alone done by doing some product differentiation. In order to sustain a companys market positioning. The company needs to adopt a market approach that is focusing on brand awareness and brand recall amongst the customer. The company has to ensure that the consumer is able to remember the brand name. And is also able to associate the brand name with the benefits that the brand is perceived to offer to the consumer and most importantly the brand is able to give the consumer a favorable experience. As this as whole is able to reinforce the brand and its associated benefits in the market.

Still a name is very crucial for any small business. It serves to provide the prospective customer about the some aspect of the product being offered. Consequently, is able to help the customers form some impression about the company. For instance, Apples mobile phone iPod is able to give the consumer a perception about the product and the company. The product is not just significantly unique in its offering but in fact the products unique name makes it stand out in the market as well.

Hence, the consumer assumes that such brand is positioned by a company that believes in innovation. IPods carefully selected brand name not only sets it apart from those of competitors like Nokia and Blackberry. And it also successfully communicates a message about the corporate persona of the company. Had Apple been not so selective in choosing a peculiar name for the product, it would not have been able to develop into such a sustainable brand.

Previous research, proposed methods and reflections
Brand theorists assert that flourishing branding is almost certain when the product is simple to recognize, offers the greatest worth for the price, is extensively accessible, and has sufficient demand to put together the branding efforts as lucrative. Product branding is also preferred in scenarios where getting a good display location on shelves will considerably influence the selling of the creation. Lastly, thriving branding endeavors require cost-cutting measures of magnitude such that costs must reduce and profits ought to enhance as additional units of the produce are made.

Nokia has done branding as well but only of the company name and not the products. Nokia has succeeded in giving a personality to its products, without even giving them any special names. In other terms, it has not produced any subbrands but has focused on the company brand name, giving its individual mobile sets a general brand persona. Just numeric descriptors are used for the products, and these numbers do not even materialize on the produce in actual.

In order to create a brand name the company should look into the competition as well. And should commence the process by looking at the names currently been in use in the marketplace and evaluating their efficacy. Then after that the step is to categorize main attributes that build the merchandise unique and then should help pressure the consumers to opt it over the competition. Here it is thus a combination of product differentiation and name that the company looks into when positioning in the market place. If a product would not be offering some unique selling proposition then it could not be positioned uniquely in the market.

It may also be useful to recognize three to five company persona traits such as sociable, innovative, or cost-effective. Traits which the consumers can understand in relation to the product and its features. Then the company must make a list of all the vocabulary and phrases that arrive to mind for every characteristic or persona trait that has been recognized. If the brand name is to take in the category of product or service being presented, it is vital to think about whether the vocabulary on the list fit soundly with these provisions.

The next stride is to assume with reference to how the phrases on the list would appear on product package. This includes any likely visual imagery and designs that may possibly be used to improve their emergence. The company should also test market the product before launching and should take the customer feedback on the products name.

When we just look into what Apple did in its positioning then we see that how the competitors sole reliance on product differentiation failed. Apple spent a portion of what Sony did in its product research, development and innovation. But Apple does not necessitate spending cash telling consumers that the iPod is like no other. The consumer can see it themselves. It promotes itself, by means of word of mouth and lustrous publicity and press reviews that help reinforce the brand and its differentiation strategy.(Cooper 2006)

Notably, the iPods birth was not a one time hit surprise, but it was a sequence of events. Every step had packed a beat that combined superior functionality, effortlessness of use and a great aesthetic sense if we look at the first iPod it only gave the consumer a step wise change in the storage capacity and memory. Then there was the iTunes which made purchasing music very simple via the internet and now iPod keeps on coming up with new a addition which helps it strengthen its position. This however, is known to us because of the tremendous publicity that goes on by iPod. And that continuous stream of advertising makes the company a success.

The main proposition is that the victory of the iPod can be primarily attributable to either Apples brand power or the truth that the fundamental invention filled a key position in the marketplace at the right moment in time. On the other hand, it is to be expected that there will be no apparent response to this research. Nonetheless the study will possibly formulate a contribution to the understanding of the association between brand name and product differentiation. And how these two factors can merge to create a successful product for a companys positioning.

Kohli, Harich and Leuthesser (2005) have shaped one of the most current pieces in this region, with a piece of study focused on branding strategies for innovative products. They found that significant brand names those that propose a positive quality or benefit of the invention, are naturally evaluated more constructively on overall liking and are easier to remember than non-meaningful brand names. The study reported here is the initial such investigation of assessment of brand names over recurring contact, and of particular attention are differences in the degree to which significant versus insignificant brand names advantage from frequent contact.

Results of the study show that significant brand names continue to be evaluated more positively than non-meaningful names, even after frequent contact, but those evaluations of non-meaningful brand names may get improved at a greater rate than those for meaningful brand names. This is of particular significance to Apple, as its brand name did not have a customary connection to music players, so its great spending and recurring publicity could have helped counteract this. (Lustgarten 2005)

Then there are the competitors who are just focusing on one aspect i.e. product differentiation. They are presenting that product innovation and not promotion is what is increasingly becoming the means to success of companies. Here in mobile industry, Samsung followed this tactic. Samsung was successful with this in its LCDs and Plasmas. But it this technique did not become effective in mobile phones. And Samsung mobiles have very low brand equity for the consumer.

In the mobile phone industry, there is a lot of focus on both the attributes name and product differentiation. All the firms try their level best that they are able to attract the consumer by their offerings. It was the company Motorola that had actually begun the industry trend of using cooler and innovative brand names for their products. The RAZR mobile was the first launch made that focused entirely on the brand name and not on its attributes. This was soon followed by Samsung and LG who introduced names likes Blackjack and Chocolate respectively for their brands.

A research was done by an analyst firm named Strategic Name Development. The key finding of their report on mobile industry trends was that a better and different mobile phone name was equivalent of a being a better performer in the market place.  However, this report was myopic in its research findings. It failed to directly identify the affect of any other factors which contributed to the success of a company.

The findings clearly ignored the aspect of the actual performance, product differentiation and innovation, pricing and distribution tactics. In order to answer these queries it is necessary to look in to primary and secondary research. The customer date must be examined and it must be seen that what the consumers perceptions are about each company and its positioning. Then another approach will be to do a direct assessment of the consumers behavior and identify their purchasing patterns and perceptions about the brands they use.

Hence, the brand name and product differentiation both have their own roles. But both alone cannot contribute to the success of the company. The positioning is only successful if there is a combination of two taking place. As all these factors are like the jigsaw pieces of a puzzle. And the puzzle can only be completed if all the pieces fit together in the right place.